Kansas City to demolish pink ‘A Splash of Life’ building after fire heavily damaged it
A week after a fire significantly damaged a bright-pink building well-known to residents of the Manheim Park and Hyde Park neighborhoods, Kansas City has ordered the building’s demolition.
The city’s dangerous building division determined the building at 4337 Troost Ave., known as “A Splash of Life,” is to be demolished, said Sherae Honeycutt, city spokeswoman. The city will demolish it, and the work is expected to begin Monday.
The building caught fire early Dec. 6, and by the time the first firefighters arrived, heavy fire and thick smoke were coming from the two-story building. Because the blaze was so advanced, firefighters battled the fire defensively.
Fire investigators were unable to determine the exact cause of the fire due to the extensive damage, Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins said earlier this week.
“The fire started in the rear of the structure and burned to a point where it eventually collapsed, hindering any chance of determining the exact cause,” said Hopkins, who added that bomb and arson investigators were not requested.
The building’s owner, Jerry Crowell, on Friday, declined to comment on the demolition, saying he is a 29-year brain cancer survivor and it was causing him a high level of stress. He has previously said he felt the fire was arson and wanted a full investigation.
Crowell bought the building in 2013 and used it as an informal distribution center for the area’s homeless.
The building had been on the city’s dangerous buildings list for years, and had been the subject of complaints from neighbors. After a January 2021 fire, the city issued an emergency demolition order. Crowell avoided demolition at that time by making repairs to the building.
